Fuel Tank

[swamper]

I've forgotten how much fuel you can safely get out of a stock set up on a 04 tank. I did a search but can't seem to find it. I use to know but can't remember this bike as I have 4 other bikes I ride. My low light usually comes on at 180 miles and I get gas as soon as it lights up (usually). Yesterday I went for a ride and the light came on at 177, I was fairly far away from a station up in the mountains here in Nor-Cal, nice weather. I went to 205 miles and took 4.45 gallons, most I've every put in this bike. I do know you can't run the tank completely empty without a modification, just wondering how far it can go in the stock set-up.

Swamper

[milehighboater]

I've put 5.1 in mine. I thought I read it was 5.3.

[swamper]

I know it's a 5.4 gallon tank, just trying to remember how much you can get out of it. Seems like I read the last .6 you can't get out because of the design.

[milehighboater]

I ran mine down on the highway trying to get to the next town. It wasn't even stuttering, I just knew it was around 5 1/2 gallons. I have never ran it dry.

[riceburner]

you should be able to get around 40 - 50 miles after the reserve light comes on.


Note - if you DO run it dry: you can get a few more miles out by shifting the fuel in the left side of the 'saddle' to the right side.
There is a mod you can do that allows the fuel pump to access both sides of the tank fully - I've not done it to my Rockster, but might well do in the future. (anyone got a link?)

If you haven't done the mod, you need to lie the bike over onto the RHS cylinder head*, then tip it over further so that the wheels get above the tank. Then SLOWLY rotate the bike back down onto it's wheels and SLOWLY lift it back upright. You'll then have maybe a litre or 2 of fuel in the RHS of the tank that the pump can get to.

Oh - obviously DON'T try this if you're not able to lift your bike up from the ground.


*place your gloves under the cylinder head to prevent scratches if you want to.

[swamper]

So when the light comes on there is a useable gallon in the tank without tilting the bike?

[kirby]

My '04 rockster will take 5.4 gal on the center stand. I have drilled the top of the filler neck with .25 (two) holes so you can get to the 5.4 easy enough.

If you need to stretch the range after the low fuel lite comes on you go to econ cruise. I found by marking the throttle with a small dot of paint then measuring the houseing(fixd part) to 1/3 from closed(add another dot on the fixed part), you can get the best milage by keeping the throttle below 1/3.
When running down the slab you can estimate your current milage by observing how much throttle your using.
I measured the voltage on the tps which is set to about .6 mv at closed throttle and is linear to about 1/3 throttle(about 2.8v) then goes up to max (4.5v to 5v) abruptly telling the ecu that you have full throttle applied (after 1/3.)
Mine will get about 40mpg at 1/3 (around 80 mph).

One dot under 1/3 its goes up to the high 40's or better. This is solo with me at 200lb fully suited and both cases and 40 lbs of gear total external to cases.

So if I am running into a head wind and the throttle is over 1/3 I know I need to go to eccon(usually around 65/70 mph) if the fuel lite comes on to get max range if needed. If the tank is full (5.4) I will have about 1 gal left.

I still cary a 2 liter bottle of fuel in the right case..never know when an extra 30 miles of fuel will save you.

FWIW

mike

[sstein]

Are those TPS settings standard, or would each rider need to do the voltage testing to determine his/her throttle-dot placement?

[kirby]

Are those TPS settings standard, or would each rider need to do the voltage testing to determine his/her throttle-dot placement?

I have done it on just two ('04 and '03 r's) and they were almost identical. If you think about it standard carbs work in a similar way. When the tapered needle comes out of the main jet about 1/3 to 1/2 you get max flow of fuel regardless of rpm. Of course the difference is that standard (CV best) work on physics not 0's and1's.
Its a big help for me for planning fuel stops, as I travel allot. My dots are about 1/8 inch wide set right at 1/3. On the dot(about 40/42 mpg) or above the mileage starts to go down.
mike :-)